UK Newspaper Comes Under Fire For Hinting That Video Games Are "The Next Global Pandemic"

Remember when people made a ruckus about rock music being evil? This is the 21st century equivalent of that.

Poor Telegraph, they have nothing to say so create these new pieces so that people like us attack them about, no press is bad press as they say.

Yes, I'm addicted, and have been for most of my life. But at least it's better for my health than the 20 a day cigarettes I buy with the governments blessing.

Ban everything!

It’s The Telegraph. That should be enough said.

Holy Hyperbole, Batman!!!

This is somehow worse than that Chinese newspaper's "spiritual opium" comment

When I was in college, my dorm mate played Everquest to the point that he would call out sick for a week or more from work and class so he could farm rare drops. Not saying that games can’t be healthy, but there are times where the addiction takes over, so I can see the concern some may have.

Always find it odd that I can tell people at work I spent all day playing videogames and most of them would look at me like a basement dwelling weirdo, yet my colleague says they spent all day binge-watching the latest trendy Netflix show and that's just fine or even considered cool...

At least videogames are using different skills like reflexes, puzzle solving, co-operation etc. More productive than a lot of other entertainment that's just passively consumed I'd say.

@TheAwesomeBowser Actually, even this is mostly a relic, the new moral panic now comes from the left, everything is now racist, sexist, offensive, bigoted and problematic, everything from the past, made before their rules were put in place, has to be changed or censored, and to make things worse, fans are not even allowed to be against this anymore.

If you have addictive tendencies, then sure it could happen. But you could replace gaming with drinking, drugs, food, shopping, all kinds of things.

I think the view of gamers in the media and what gamers are really like has a lot of gaps. I spend less time gaming than my friends do on Netflix or other "useless" activities. People need to decompress somehow.

I think the F2P games on phones and tablets are a bigger problem than a child spending too long on a device. It's up to the parents/guardians to regulate screen time.

conservative media being outraged about fictional scenarios again?

This is kind of a fun throwback controversy. I hope they bring in Jack Thompson to pen an article about how GTA Online is training people to become serial killers.

Calling the Telegraph a newspaper is insulting to actual newspapers.

Too much entertainment makes you unproductive. When you are unproductive it's easy to fall in to a rut. When you are in a rut, you often refuse to listen to folk trying to say what you are doing is unhealthy even resent them for it. Etc etc. It's far more complicated than 'games are bad, mkay!' and applies more to some folk than others.

I'm not interested in chasing realism in gaming, so that I don't have to go outside. I much prefer Nintendo's philosophy of trying to bring people together on a couch and reminding those people to go outside and do stuff occassionally (just take your Switch with you lol).

There is probably some truth in what the telegraph says. PC gaming is very 'grey' and isolating offset by surrounding yourself with glowy tech, silly chairs and headsets.

"unregulated and freely available to our kids". So just ignoring ESRB and...ya know...parenting. I kind of feel like this is an issue about poor parenting and nothing else.

Regarding the kids, it's pretty easy : it's their parent's job to regulate their gaming time, period.

I thought it was going to be The Sun as usual like with how they blamed the Hillsborough Disaster on Liverpool fans, but looks like it wasn't them this time.

The author of that book needs to realise that as a parent it’s their responsibility to make sure their son isn’t spending too much time playing Fortnite. They provided their son with the device with which they access it.

@gb_nes_gamer Plus, also make sure that their credit cards are not saved into their devices for kids to use how they want.

There are kids who straight up steal money from their parents with the credits cards, but other kids don't know how credit cards work and don't understand that money is being spent on those games.

Video games involve problem solving, improve hand/eye coordination and help with cooperation skills. It's a better habit than watching trash reality TV or going on garbage social media.

Oh no. Not dopamine! Children enjoying themselves? Not on MY watch!

"I was shocked, and indignant, that there was something out there, unregulated and freely available to our kids, which was considered highly dangerous but nobody was doing anything about it. It was like someone was coming into my son’s bedroom at night and injecting him with an addictive drug."

Translates to:

In between episodes of Love Island and Grand Designs, I looked up from behind my oversized wine glass to check if my offspring was still alive. He was suitably entertained with a videogame so I didn't bother to engage as a parent and actually converse with him. Then came the credit card bill and a £1000 charge for vbucks. What the heck are vbucks? I was incensed I now actually had to get off my backside and do some parenting and googling. I was very upset and looked for someone to blame for my own failings. Videogames seemed like the easy target. So I wrote an unresearched and educated piece for a propaganda outlet masquerading as a legitimate newspaper, to stick it to the lefties. Yay me. Back to Love Island.

I think it's worth noting that video games play to our dopamine receptors and really can be addictive and drug-like. My youngest sibling had to go to a detox boarding high school with a bunch of drug-addicted youth due to his video-game addiction that was ruining his life.

The thing is… video games aren't necessarily worse than other addictions. But because it's a business, they can work on malicious pathways. The app creators of microtransation loot-box games in particular know how to keep feeling the dopamine and FOMO brain chemicals to keep people paying more and more money. It works along the same addiction pathways as gambling.

But this is hardly different from how Facebook or Twitter use brain chemical reward systems to keep people interacting with their platforms, or how Netflix tries to keep you binging shows when you run out of episodes. Video games are not uniquely a problem in this sphere.

They are an interactive medium, so that works on different neuropathways than a purely visual medium like an addiction to watching porn or something. But they are not uniquely worthy of damnation, and video games can also be a high art form.

The struggle is really more one of balancing art with capital - how do we raise up the art form while pushing back against the business that is not there for our benefit but rather for their shareholders, and will do anything to keep us hooked and paying them money?

Piracy of course is not the answer - that just leads to the art form collapsing as the artists lack the ability to maintain their output. But blind embracing of the corporations publishing these games isn't helpful either. We need reasonable restrictions on what sort of things can happen in games. Banning loot boxes is a great start, maybe governments should also ban microtransactions in games. Time management is the other piece of this, and maybe there's a way to incentivize game developers to create experiences that aren't "binged" but rather explored in small bites. Nintendo's old "hey listen! you've been playing for over an hour now, maybe you should take a break?" doesn't help - it just makes the player indignant against the game. But designing the game around smaller chunks of play, and letting players drop off and pick up at any time helps a lot (as opposed to say, Majora's Mask where my mom was demonized by our "we can't turn off the N64 now, we have to get to an owl statue or the end of the 3 day cycle!"). 3DS and Switch have helped with that, since you can just put the console to sleep and pick up later. But designing the game's chucks helps with it more so too. Breath of the Wild's shrines are a good way of designing over small chunks, though Breath of the Wild is a very "bingeable" game since there's always something new to discover and rarely a clear threshold of "we accomplished this, better call it quits for now."

It's a tough nut to crack.

@Longondo This is very accurate. At some point, when a person's entire being becomes so engrossed in a hobby that they are unable to articulate a cohesive thought about anything else, that can be indicative of a larger, untreated issue within that person.

Mmm interesting stuff. I am a 43 years old and I am a video game addict. I can admit that here in words. I play video games everyday not always for hours, I have access to hundreds of games but still find myself wanting to buy more, and making lists. I am single with no kids so I have plenty of time. I do love gaming with a passion and I have tried to change my habits and try new things in this world, but I always come back. I don’t feel I have a problem, but at the same time I feel I do. As I type this I’m looking forward to a fresh run of Mario world on my SNES mini, and maybe getting axiom verge 2 xxxx

I wish people would stop referring to UK papers as newspapers. They haven't reported News as long as I've been aware. Sure there is some information present, occasionally. But it's wrapped up in so much opinion, bias and scandal that the term "newspaper" is a complete misnomer for what these things actually are.

@TheAwesomeBowser But rock is evil! Sweet, delicious, evil!

Meh, it’s kinda true, but there are much worse things to worry about. 🤷‍♂️

@ralphdibny I occasionally catch a glimpse of the front pages when I’m in my local corner shop. I have no idea why anybody would buy a paper. It ranges from the absurd like this article, to the insidious like basically anything The Sun and such have put out for the last 40 years, to the utterly banal like everybody’s local papers and their stories about potholes.

@victordamazio yeah that’s right. Kids are given the devices but no education or rules on how to use them.

@CharlieGirl It does, the moral panic of the past, of people saying violent videogames were turning children into murderers, Pokémon is satanic, rock and roll is destroying teenagers and Looney Tunes cartoons will make children get hurt, was replaced by the new moral panic where everything is now offensive and problematic.

And I made sure to not derail the thread by saying the old moral panic is still not completely gone.

Kinda thought we’d left this behind already. Moral panic over GTA3, and before that it was Mortal Kombat and Night Trap, before that it was video nasties and before that it was D&D satanism. Before that it was novels - reading was actually deemed bad for people!

It’ll be something else in another 20 years. And all the time, people are getting smarter at dealing with an increasingly complicated world.

Edit: Oh yeah! Rock’n’roll, in all its forms, came in between D&D and novels...

@victordamazio No, this reads as though you took the article as an opportunity to get on a soapbox and lobby harmful rhetoric that's only barely on-topic.

Videogame addiction is real.

I don't agree with everything in this particular article, but there is plenty here that rings true.

If this article makes people talk about it, like it clearly is, then that can only be a good thing.

Addiction can be in many forms - buying games you never play, getting in debt from microtransactions, spending all your free time on games but neglecting your health.

One thing I would say though is that it is not just videogames. Social media. Mobile phones. "Doomscrolling the news"... we live in very strange times and there is clearly a growing minority that are seriously struggling.

@CharlieGirl lol so true. I tuned out when he went on the rant about "left, everything is now racist, sexist, offensive, bigoted and problematic, everything from the past". Like the auditions for GB News were back in June dude.

@nessisonett,

Very true, the Telegraph on one hand produces this article, and every other day has a report and buyers guide for the PS5, with links to retailers obviously.

never listen to The Telegraph they are conspiracy theorists scumbags who throw out misinformation on an hourly basis

Instead going after video games addiction they should be go after drug addiction that is harming and killing people. It is sad nowadays that people lookup to drug addicts, criminals, drug cartels while corrupt politicians make laws like making drugs that kill people like Marijuana and Fentanyl legal. And that is unacceptable.

@Hyrule if The Telegraph is a "propaganda outlet masquerading as a legitimate newspaper" in your eyes... what on earth are The Sun and The Daily Mail in your eyes?!!

@nocdaes,

Without a doubt, every product is going to have a small element of people who are not in as much control as others, not sure the best answer is to limit everybody else.

Do I like playing video games? Yes. But am I addicted to them? No. Gaming is more of like a time waster if I’m very bored at my house, just turn on smash bros, play a couple rounds and I’m done. And if I’m ever playing more than usual my mom comes in and says something. Like most other people said, the parents need to actually watch their kids. Why would you even have a kid if all your gonna do is throw them on a device than complain when they become addicted? This might be awful to say but most people nowadays just shouldn’t be parents.

@nocdaes They who shall not be named and inhabit the Upside Down

@nessisonett I had assumed either the Daily mail or the Sun, but Telegraph fits too.

Usual nonsense scapegoating. Are people addicted to screens yeah probably these days in general way too much screen time as I look at my small portable screen as I type but why pretend gaming's evil.
I never got the argument it's more addictive or somehow more dangerous then tv is
Everything in reasonable amounts is fine but they would rather make wild claims about that insidious gaming (probably never played anything)

@nessisonett its awful, my main exposure comes from the bing app that collates headlines. I hate even having the temptation to scroll through it for my own morbid fascination. I only have the app to get the reward points, I wish there was some way to get rid of the "news"!

But yeah, honestly, they are all as bad as eachother. No matter what side of the line you fall on and how much their ideologies align with your own. Their articles are designed to get a rise out of you. The more emotional they make you then the more susceptible you become. It's like a never ending spiral.

@LaytonPuzzle27 Marijuana is a very soft drug that can't kill, while marijuana can lead to other stronger drugs, so can alcohol and tobacco.

My issue with marijuana becoming legal, is that soon, they will try to legalize other drugs that can kill instead of drawing the line with just this one.

@westman98 Well, in China it's to be expected, anything that doesn't make meek little worker drones is considered evil there.

But in a country like Great Britain, it's just hack journalism to stir up some outrage and sell a few more copies of their rag...

I’m 38 and certainly hasn’t ruined my generation.

I would argue the next pandemic is far-right governments and their news outlets failing to do anything about the environment.

Shame we cannot vaccinate the population against their propaganda.

@BloodNinja To be fair I on two occasions in my first year skived off my weekend job and told my girlfriend I was ill and not to come around just so I could play Metroid Prime and later Wind Waker for the whole time without any interruptions!

At least that pandemic won't put me at risk of wrecking my kidneys when I'm near irresponsible gamers.

@LaytonPuzzle27 Weed doesn’t kill people. It just doesn’t. It might be a gateway drug but tobacco and alcohol are just as harmful, if not more.

I think an important distinction should be made between most console games and a lot of dopamine-rush short-term mobile games that force you to pay money for extras in order to get your next rush. I think there is a legitimate issue with the later which should be discussed - but lumping all “games” together and labelling them negative doesn’t help anything.

First, PLEASE keep politics out of this comment section. They're irrelevant to the topic and only serve to bring up emotional feelings that are much, MUCH better conveyed in person with more context outside of words on a screen.

Gaming addiction is certainly a problem, affecting a minority that do indeed need an intervention. Usually, like other addictions, it's a symptom of something deeper that needs addressed.

That said...a pandemic, really? So it's perfectly okay to binge watch streaming media and get lost for hours in a book, but not to pick up a game for an hour or two? They're seriously just different forms of entertainment. All of which can be taken too far. As long as these are all moderated without letting those things that are truly important in life fall by the wayside, there's no problem with harmless entertainment.

As for what children are exposed to, this is ultimately up to the parents. Age ratings and nanny software exist for a reason. For example, Fortnite is rated T/PEGI 12, yet millions of kids way younger than those ages routinely play the game.

Anything done excessively is a bad thing, this applies to everything not just video games. Even eating too much fruit can be bad!

Screw you, Telegraph

Lol. This again?

Some people playing Animal Crossing on the subway is equal to the spread of a deadly virus.

Ok, dick.

Then again, when Street Fighter II came out, I just couldn't stop Tiger Uppercutting people, so idk.

I’d argue that social media addiction is much worse than video games. The only game I’ve ever regretted sinking long periods of time into is fortnite, which borders the ideas of a social media platform. Social media is a rabbit hole of wasted time for the most part, in my opinion. I think it’s great in moderation, but it’s incredibly difficult (for me at least) to moderate that time. While it feels fun in the moment, I’m usually left empty afterwards. Games on the other hand are the opposite for me. It’s a long lasting form of enjoyment that many continue to dwell on for years. Games often make you think and engage with the content more than the mindless scrolling that ensues on social platforms.

And now I’m realizing that rant was hardly related to the article. So, in conclusion, there are things much worse than video games.

who find games to be a relaxing source of healthy entertainment

This is why those trying to scapegoat gaming as a problem comes under fire all the time. They don't take time to really look but make assumptions based on their biases. That's the Real Story here. People using their preconceived bias to make baseless assumptions.

If your children are spending too much time playing video games, playing games too vioent for them, or having behavioral problems because of what type of how long they play the games; it's not the child's fault, it's the parent's! The parent's job is to decipline and teach, kids don't learn in a vacuum!

@Tyranexx This is politics as much as everything else.

@Ogbert I’m pretty sure people are completely capable of talking about this without going on political tangents.

Imagine how cool would that be if they decided to.

Their feature for tomorrow should be "Telegraph Articles: The Next Global Pandemic".

@Eel but it is political.

Isn't the Telegraph mainly read by the retired very rich people and full of articles about how we should invade India again?

@Ogbert, @victordamazio While I'm aware that The Telegraph leans slightly right of center, the original article doesn't seem like more than an opinion piece, with some misinformation thrown in, made to generate clicks. Believe me, I've observed this on both "sides" of the news, blog, and political spectrum. I don't deny that political and religious groups have attacked (and still attack) gaming, but nowhere does it appear to indicate the author's religious beliefs or political affiliations.

It brings up a very real health problem, but skewers the point with misinformation and blows it out of proportion. To me, this is insensitive to those who do truly have a screen addiction, not to mention any more serious underlying issues that need addressed.

@Euler nice strawman.

Any hobby you really enjoy can become addictive from watching anime, reading, fishing, listening to music, watching Netflix etc so they should ban everything? My partners little brother has watched things on YouTube on his switch for over 300 hours, he's only had it a year, gaming is the least of anyone's worries

@Ogbert you present a convincing argument with strong evidence.

However, I’ll have to be a stick in the mud and ask “no politics plz” regardless.

@Tyranexx I don't deny gaming can be an addiction for some. Same as gambling and alcohol and caffeine and tabbaco and socially accepted things (at least in the UK they are).

Fact is this article isn't here to present any meaningful data or spark and sensible and level headed debate. Hence the need for such inflammatory and over dramatic terms. It's latching on to a base level knowledge of something and hyping it up as scare tactics.

@Eel sorry you'll just have to skip my posts this time! To talk about this as a non-politically subject is to say nothing at all.

Nothing personal btw from all accounts I've seen you seem like a nice person on here! I do not wish to offend or upset you.

Do people still read newspapers?
There is never any truth in there
Just a load rubbish in there

I, like the vast majority of people, grow very tired of people screaming "blame the left!" or "blame the right!"

All of you come off as annoying.

You aren't changing anyone's mind and nobody cares what you think.

Stick to games, please.

It's mainstream media that should be enough said.

That article is 90's level of stupid parenting. Bad parenting always tries to blame other stuff than their poor choices and lack of attention.

@Ogbert I agree with your last comment. While there's a time and place for healthy debate that relies on factual information and the varied, constructive perspectives of those involved, the original news piece is certainly not the best starting point.

Ah, dear old Telegraph, posting inflammatory articles just for the sake of it.

While gaming addiction is real, it isn’t anywhere near as much of a problem as some of the media make it out to be. Gaming only makes up an infinitesimal fraction of addictions, with gambling, alcohol and drugs accounting for the overwhelming majority. As for the woman saying Fortnite was available to kids with no restrictions…just no. It’s up to the parents to restrict a kid’s gaming time; if they set up a console in the kid’s bedroom with no parental controls, it’s them who allow the kid unrestricted access, not the company that made the game.

@RadioHedgeFund No judgement from me! I did that the weekend Skyrim was released! LOL

@BloodNinja Except that can and has happened to people regarding everything. There are people who stay up too late every night reading, binging media content, drinking, hanging out socially, playing music, etc. People can and do obsess over anything. There's no reliable medical/scientific basis to indicate that video games are more addictive than anything else like that. And there's CERTAINLY a plethora of evidence that outright counters the concept that they're "injecting an addictive drug".

The addiction issues are often elements of the personality of the individual afflicted with whatever the addiction is. That's why many addicts can and do replace one addiction for something wholly unrelated. The point isn't that people can't get addicted, it's that it's not the fault of the game anymore than it's literature's fault that someone goes to work bleary-eyed and unproductive because they stayed up too late reading Lord of the Rings.

@Lyricana While I agree that the article in question is overblowing things, it’s undeniable that gaming has an addictive nature to it, and has the potential to get people stuck in a “positive feedback loop.” Generally, I think they are conflating the fact that endorphins and seratonin get released into our bodies when we experience the joys of gaming, so that’s probably why they are saying it that way. Sensational, still, but understandable if spoken about on more grounded terms.

Blah blah blah. As a gamer, dad of 4 kids, 3 of which game, it is my job to make sure my kids’ screen time is limited and what they are doing while on them. Are there days my kids have 10 hours of screen time? Yes. Are there days where we don’t turn on a device and spend entire day doing anything else? Yes to that as well.
It’s the parents who get their kids iPhone/consoles at 8 years old, allow them to have those in their bedrooms. And those same parents don’t care that when their kids come out of their room, they are 25, still living there, not contributing, and still act like the 8 year old that got an iPhone. it’s not the kids fault…

@TheAwesomeBowser Yeah except this isn’t new to the 21st century. I was born in 1984 and I’ve been reading articles like this almost my entire life.

How about parents do what they should and you know, parent. If you're letting little Jack or Sally lock themselves in their rooms for hours in front of a screen playing all kinds of games or sit around glued to their phones/tablets then that's on you. The statement about someone coming into her kid's bedroom and injecting him with an addictive drug is asinine. Parents need to step it up, video game companies are not the parents and neither is the government. How about parents get off their screens and become more involved in their children's lives. Maybe even game together? Jeez

@Tyranexx : And those ratings merely apply to the content of the game in isolation, and they do not take into consideration the interactions that players will have with one another, which will likely far exceed the parameters of those ratings, making them even less appropriate for the tots that typically play Fortnite.

We had the internet installed at home when I was about 11 and it was a whole other ballgame back then. I frequented many a chat room and I suspect that somebody tried to groom me at one point (though I fortunately wasn't naive enough to fall for that). I was perhaps a little more mature than average (due to having a sense of responsibility instilled in me from a young age) and have never watched pornography (to date, nor had any desire to do so) and I have never had an appetite for transgressive material generally, but parents really ought to be more vigilant nowadays (and I would certainly be very prudent if I ever have children). Frankly, I exercised more vigilance concerning my upbringing than my parents have (though my grandparents were excellent role models growing up), and that's a little sad considering that there are countless children out there who desperately need guidance, stability, and good role models.

The danger of screen addiction lies in parents who don't give a care about how much time their kids are spending using electronics or the quality of the content they consume on them. I do worry about all the kids who are basically just handed a tablet and watch mindless YouTube Kids videos or play mindless Roblox spam games for hours on end. When I was a kid at least most TV shows and video games had some sort of quality standard. So much free content exists now that's basically meant to profit off of kids who don't know better, who are content watching someone crack open surprise eggs for hours on end. As long as parents do their job and make sure they limit screen time and that the things their kids are watching/playing are of a certain quality then there wouldn't be a problem.

@BloodNinja

There’s a reason it was called Evercrack back in the day.

@TheRedComet Hey, I played for three years, I should know!

@Hyrule
I think that's my favourite comment ever.😂

This again? Its actually stupid. The addiction to gaming is only bad for people who actually have an addiction. If someone who games about as much as they would watch tv, then there is no issue. It just so happens that tv isn't interactive and gaming is.

And while I don't particularly care for Fortnite, this part of the article is laughable:

`I was shocked, and indignant, that there was something out there, unregulated and freely available to our kids, which was considered highly dangerous but nobody was doing anything about it. It was like someone was coming into my son’s bedroom at night and injecting him with an addictive drug.`

'Unregulated'? This coming from a mother? As in, she expects someone else to parent her child for her? Lady, YOU'RE the one who needs to do something about your kids unhealthy habits. Like... how is that even up for debate at this point. If you see your own kid playing too many games, step in. Thats your duty as the parent. No one elses. Granted, I personally dont see much issue to playing games as much as one wants - it has its benefits and is a great alternative to, say, drugs, gangs, etc etc but what do I know?

Though I wouldn't let my future kids game to the point where I'd get worried and would demand someone else steps in to tell them to slow down. Clearly she isn't very involved in her sons life. Yeesh.

I did not mean for my comment to be so long. LOL

I have a gaming disorder. Its the one where I’m rubbish at it. Doc prescribed 500ml of gitgud.

@nessisonett

Click-bate. They are masters at it.

This really pisses me off. I don't think mainstream English media have a right to write about videogames, even the BBC. They are the enemy tbh. This is our medium, and these greasy snakes have no right to comment, whether positively or negatively.

Like when the BBC posts mario or zelda articles, they have no right. I actually want it to remain a subculture. Don't let these totalitarian liars and manipulators go near videogames. Especially Nintendo.

@Silly_G Exactly! Hence the "Online interactions not rated by the ESRB" lines clearly stamped on the box art of the physical games I pick up. Which makes sense; it's virtually impossible to rate and predict online interactions. Each exchange is unique, after all.

I was roughly the same age when my family obtained internet (dial-up; what passed for broadband finally came later), but mostly stuck to gaming news sites (mostly Serebii and IGN) and related forums at the time. I was always very careful with my anonymity, and generally speaking I'm still pretty closed off on the internet. Even with users I "trusted", like on a small, tight-knit Digimon text roleplay site way back when, I only divulged as much as my gender and state lol. On the little social media I even bother with anymore, I only friend people I know RL.

I did text chat with strangers way back when on MMOs and so on, but I never used Discord for gaming chat until recently to play Monster Hunter Rise with a couple of faraway friends. I've heard plenty of stories of online chats related to very popular games, and I'm very glad I never got into those.

@ThatNyteDaez I've played game Arcade to Console and I haven't gone on a Rampage with a AR-15. That's what we called yellow bellied chickenpoop people. This excuse that game kills is just stupid - the AR-15 will kill more then games would.

All those ESRB or R18 means JACK when a so called Adult buys for their teenage kids. What message does that send? No it starts at the Parents/Foster/Grandparents/Guardian. Games are a easy excuse maybe they should consider themselves to get themselves Neutered or tied permeant then they won't have a excuse.

The Telegraph in Britain has nosedived in reputation over the last few years. Posting extremely biased stuff equivalent of a hardcore tabloid. It's not meant to be a tabloid newspaper. It has openly been accused of being the "Torygraph" (a government mouthpiece of the Conservative/Tory party who are currently in power) & increasingly and more strongly right leaning as the years go by. Shameful.

@TheAwesomeBowser I'm getting old, so old that articles like this seem like old news to me. I've been happily gaming since the '80s and remember the time in the '90s they claimed that shooters like doom and quake were killing simulators and that anyone who played them would end up killing in real life, same in '00s when GTA came out, and the COD and PUBG and even Fortnite. And you know what ? Although my patience has mightily been tested by numerous idiots i've still to start a shooting spree in real life.
Games are an "addiction" in the same way as TV and board games and books before them. All are time-consuming but not automatically an addiction. If those are, then so is watching sports because at least there a connection can be made between excessive supporting and violence.

I was actually prescribed video games as a child as a means to train my lazy eye while wearing an eye patch.
Take that, telegraph 😝😂😂

Most games are designed to be addictive. That's a fact and it goes back to their origins in the arcade. The 'addictiveness' quality of a game was often rated in game reviews during the late 80's in magazines such as CVG and Mean Machines. It was replaced by the word 'playability' and 'gameplay' over time. If a game is highly addictive it's considered a good game.

Gaming actually keeps kids safe because it is a great alternative to drinking, drugs, partying, etc. The fact that modern games are more social in nature only further helps that, because they no longer isolate the player by nature. Gaming kept me out of trouble throughout my youth and university years. "Pandemic" is going to be the new buzz word used to demonize and change behavior. We have real pandemics of course, but this is utter nonsense.

@mystman12 great comment. Much of the "free content" on YouTube is trash. The egg opening videos have literally no value. Many parents use tablets as a "baby sitter" so they can scroll through their social media feeds uninterrupted by their crying kids. What goes around comes around. A parent addicted to their phone will raise kids addicted to their tablets, phones, devices, etc. Many devices for kids have built in features that limit screen time that I'm sure the parents haven't activated much less even been bothered to read about.

"Video games are bad for you? They used to say the same about rock and roll."
(Shigeru Miyamoto)

@westman98 They are directly referencing it.
I think any journalist should be wary of anything said by the Chinese state media.

Is it the 80s? Parents, if you are concerned your kids are staring at screens too much, TAKE THE SCREEN AWAY. Be the parent. Stop blaming games on your inability to tell your child "no".

Yawn. I'm 51. I've been gaming since 1982. This is at least the sixth (probably more) time some clueless organisation has tried to incite moral panic over games. Add to that the several times in my life the music I like (metal, goth, rock, etc) has been similarly demonised, and all the times I was told as a kid I shouldn't be reading that book and should be reading this one instead and I have come to the inevitable conclusion that some people are going to be outraged by anything pleasurable, far more often than people are going to be actually clinically addicted to that pleasurable thing. I'll stick with the games thanks and leave the Telegraph's brand of 'news' to people who are unable to think for themselves.

Here it is, folks.......... stereotyping is the worst form of fake news in the world. Every video game is different in their own unique way, and having Fortnite be the cause of the blame against video games as a whole is an insult.

"unregulated and freely available to our kids" Maybe if they did some parenting instead of placing blame. I grew up playing games, and I now have two kids who play games. And guess what I have full control over when and what they play. Not Nintendo, Sony, Microsoft, or any of the hundreds of game developers. Me the parent controls this.

Still funny how some still like to blame everyone and everything else for their failures.

I'm not against hearing a well constructed, scientifically backed argument on how too much digital media can be problematic.

What I am against is singling out video games as being inherently more/less risky than movies, iPad surfing or any other form of consumption.

You're given one life. Work hard, love God, country and neighbor, and in your spare time, if video games are your hobby, I don't see how that's any different than building model cars or noodle towers or whatever other crazy hobbies ppl have where they sit all day and stare at something.

Some people have issues with nothing better to do.

@victordamazio Good job making this article into something it's not about whatsoever. I'm on "the left" and I don't think that everything is racist (believe it or not, most of us don't) just that racist things in media shouldn't be. You're just creating a massive strawman. Also, fans are still "allowed" to be against that. When I respond to someone like you, I'm not taking away your right to say or think something. Free speech goes both ways.